Battle of Gardez

The Battle of Gardez occurred on 14 November 2001 during the Afghanistan War. A squad of US Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six fought their way through the city of Gardez, defended by Chechen al-Qaeda fighters, in order to rescue an informant who possessed critical information about Taliban troop strengths in the Shahikot Valley. The US soldiers battled their way through the village and then into the Bala Hisar fort, where they liberated the informant.

History
On 14 November 2001, a four-man team of SEAL Team Six soldiers was dispatched to the Afghan city of Gardez to link up with their informant, Tariq, who had information on Taliban troop strengths in the Shahikot Valley. The SEALs drove into town dressed as locals, and they spoke to a few Northern Alliance fighters at a roadblock, learning that the Taliban had left a day before. However, as they drove into town, they came across more armed men, and they realized that they were Chechen al-Qaeda fighters due to their red beards and their Western equipment. The Chechens opened fire on the convoy, leading to a massive shootout. The SEALs backed their vehicles up until they crashed, and they left their vehicles to engage the Chechens on foot. The Americans proceeded to clear the village before discovering a dead man tied to a chair; they noticed that he was rigged with explosives, so they pushed him out of the building as he exploded. US intel reported that they observed several trucks filled with armed men moving towards the Bala Hisar fort, so the SEALs called in air support to destroy the fortress gates. They proceeded to assault the fort and clear it out room-by-room, and they found the elderly Tariq tied up after shooting all of his guards. They succeeded in extracting him, and they would go on to secure Bagram Airfield.